Walking Tour Brochure

WALKING TOURS

Self-Guided Tours through Over 200 Years of History

Getting Started

There are four walking tour loops for you to explore. Each loop averages between 30-60 minutes depending on your pace.

Great American Main Street (blue loop, pages 3-16) : one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants, churches, and historic buildings (0.7mi)

Arts & Antiques (coral loop, pages 16-22) : homes-turned-hospitals during the Battle of Franklin, art gallery, Second Avenue Antiques District (0.58mi)

Haunts & Headstones (orange loop, pages 23-26) : historic and haunted homes and cemeteries where early settlers and Civil War soldiers are interred, includes the grave of the Unknown Soldier (0.63mi)

Historic Homes of Hincheyville (purple loop, pages 27-33) : neighborhood of historic homes located in Franklin’s House Makers first subdivision (0.97mi)

As you take this tour, you will notice many informational and some directional signs throughout Franklin.

Civil War Trail Markers: They are part of the Tennessee Civil War Trails program, which marks important sites throughout the state.

Civil War Driving Tour: The round green signs with a number in the middle correspond to a driving tour map of the Battle of Franklin that is available at the Visitor Center.

House Markers: These black signs in most cases have two names and a date. The first name is the builder; the second name is the current owner. The date next to the name of the property is the earliest verifiable building date.

Silver Historic Markers: Williamson County has over 200 historic markers erected by the Williamson County Historical Society and the State of Tennessee.

National Register of Historic Places Markers: These are rectangular bronze signs attached directly to the buildings and are properties that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places administered by the National Park Service.

As you experience the tour, you will discover not all historic sites are included. If you are interested in one of the public sites, please ask someone in our Visitor Center.

Open to the Public Private Property

Please pay attention to your surroundings just as you would in any city. Stop, look, listen, and stay on the marked loops. Pay close attention when crossing busy streets.

Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee. Est. 1799

Tennessee began as part of the State of North Carolina, which stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. After the Revolutionary War, North Carolinians began moving “over the mountains” into what is today Tennessee. Many of the early settlers received grants of land for their heroism in the war, including Major Anthony Sharpe, who was awarded 8,000 prime western North Carolina acres. Sharpe then sold 600 acres to fellow North Carolinian Abram Maury, who established the town of Franklin, Tennessee in 1799.

Maury laid out the town the way you see it today, with the square in the middle and five blocks in either direction. He then named the town in honor of his wife, calling it Marthaville, but she insisted instead it be named for the American hero Benjamin Franklin.

The town grew quickly in the early days, as the promise of good, cheap land drew in settlers from the east. Along with the North Carolinians came another group of people, those upon whom the prosperity of the South grew so rapidly in the early days, the enslaved African Americans. Slavery rapidly became entrenched as an economic, social, legal, and political system. Franklin’s most important event, or series of events, was the Civil War: Union occupation, the Battle of Franklin, and the aftermath. The result was three-fold. The nation was united once and for all, slavery ended, and the South’s economy suffered the devastation that lasted for over 100 years.

Since the late 1960s, Franklin preservationists have made a successful and sustained effort to preserve the history of the original square and surrounding businesses and homes. This charming 15-block historic district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The square is surrounded by beautiful Victorian architecture, giving visitors a glimpse of history, along with unique shopping and one-of-a-kind restaurants. Yet Franklin remains true to its Main Street identity, with brick sidewalks and beautifully restored buildings. Today, Franklin is an upscale suburb of Nashville, named to Southern Living’s “Best Small Town” top ten list. Walk these streets and imagine the people, events and culture that have shaped Franklin for over two hundred years.

McPhail-Cliffe Office, c. 1815

(Downtown Franklin Association) 209 E Main Street

Dr. Daniel McPhail was the first doctor in Tennessee to successfully administer anesthesia to a patient and was also one of the original Tennessee Volunteers. When President James K. Polk called for 2,600 volunteers from each state to fight the war against Mexico, 30,000 Tennesseans enlisted—and Tennessee has been known as the Volunteer State ever since.

Not only is the McPhail-Cliffe office one of the oldest surviving buildings in Franklin, but it’s also the smallest at about 250 square feet.

Great American Main Street

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Saint Philip Catholic Church, 1871

125 E Main Street

An influx of Irish Catholic railroad workers after the Civil War that energized the effort to establish St. Philip Catholic Church in 1871. Growth in the 1970s necessitated the series of buildings you see today encompassing four separate sanctuaries, all built between 1976 and 1997. Prior to the church, the property was owned by John Eaton, a Franklin lawyer, U.S. Senator and Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson. Eaton and his wife Peggy became embroiled in a scandal that almost brought down the Jackson administration.

The Factory at Franklin (off-the-loop option)

230 Franklin Road

Built in 1929, The Factory at Franklin occupies the buildings that once served as the Dortch Stove Works, Magic Chef, and later the Jamison Bedding Company. A member of the National Register of Historic Places, The Factory at Franklin today has transformed into a diverse, vibrant shopping and entertainment complex.

Old Factory Store, 1825 (Landmark Booksellers)

114 E Main Street

Landmark Booksellers is housed in one of the oldest remaining buildings in Franklin, and the earliest example of Greek Revival architecture in Tennessee. After the Battle of Franklin, the building was used as a field hospital for both Union and Confederate soldiers. Over the years, many businesses have operated behind the Greek columns and today Landmark Booksellers is one of the leading independent booksellers in the South, whose owners were the inspiration for the New York Times bestselling novel by Karen Kingsbury, The Bridge.

Shea House (R)

Parking lot next to Old Factory Store (Landmark Community Bank)

Jeremiah Shea arrived in Franklin after the Civil War to work on the railroad and was one of the founders and builders of St. Philip Catholic Church. The Sheas later got into the grocery business, operating a store out of the Old Factory Store. It was demolished in 1950 and replaced by Franklin Motor Court, an early motel. The property is now home to Landmark Community Bank.

Truett’s Livery Stable (Baskin-Robbins)

214 E Main Street

John Truett operated a livery stable in the early 20th century at this location. He first stabled horses here, then cars. In 1919

with the advent of prohibition, Truett became the bootlegging kingpin of Williamson County by controlling 10 stills in the county. In 1925, a local constable named Sam Locke led federal marshals on a raid of Truett’s stable where liquor was found. The next day, Locke was found in his car, dead of two gunshot wounds. Truett was arrested and charged with murder-for-hire, as was Jim Kelton, who claimed that Truett offered him $500 to shoot Locke. Because there were racial issues—Locke was white and Kelton black—the Ku Klux Klan marched into town, and the case was called Franklin’s “trial of the century.” In the end, Kelton was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Truett was acquitted. Most people agreed he’d gotten away with murder, and later he was convicted of violating the Volstead Act and paid fines of $2,500.

Nashville Interurban Railway Public Square

On May Day, 1907, construction began on an interurban commuter railway to connect Franklin and Nashville, which was completed over a year later on Christmas Eve, 1908.

The Nashville-Franklin Interurban ran from May 1909 until November 1941 as an electric trolley. Better roads and the automobile eventually drove the Interurban out of business. The unique venture made its last run on November 9, 1941.

The Nashville-Franklin Interurban Railway Powerhouse was an electric plant built in nearby Brentwood specifically to supply electricity for the railway motor cars until the Interurban switched to gasoline powered buses in 1942. The buses operated for almost another three decades until the last route in 1969.

Truett’s Livery Stable, c. 1918

Hotel Corner, c. 1880 (Fifth Third Bank) 230 Public Square

The middle building built in the Victorian style was the Mays Hotel and later the Post Hotel. A night at the hotel cost 10 cents, but in 1900, that did not guarantee a private room. The building in the corner was the original City Hall where the police, fire department, city recorder, and one jail cell were. A fire was always a possibility with open-hearth cooking and heating of the day so early town laws required everyone to keep a 5-gallon bucket of water handy and store their gunpowder far away from the fireplace.

The Square and Main Public Square

In the 1920s, The Franklin Kiwanis Club named Franklin “Tennessee’s Most Handsome Town” to encourage business expansion. Today visitors agree that Franklin is one of the prettiest towns in the United States. An early 1990s Streetscape project complements the architecture with period lighting, plantings, and public improvements resulting in the National Trust for Historic Preservation awarding Franklin one of five Great American Main Street awards for its outstanding downtown revitalization. Although it’s difficult to imagine today, at one time Franklin was in a sad state of disrepair. Sidewalks were cracked and broken and metal sheeting covered the façades of some of the Victorian buildings. *See more about the Public Square’s pre-Civil War History at stop 26.

Civil War Monument, 1899 Public Square

In the years following the Civil War, cities and towns across the nation began to erect memorials for their war dead. Several Franklin women founded a chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, raising $2,700 to purchase this monument; it took 17 years of bake sales and quilting bees to raise the money.

Nashville Interurban Railway, c. 1920

The group chose November 30, 1899—the 35th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin—as the day for the dedication. A few days beforehand, the statue arrived on the train. After placing it on a wagon and hauling it up to the square, workers began hoisting it up to its place on the column. Something—no one really knows what—caused the statue to slip from the ropes and crash against the base, breaking off a piece of the hat’s brim. Five days later, before a crowd of 10,000, the statue was unveiled, broken hat and all. The statue represents an anonymous infantryman at rest; locals now call him ‘Chip’.

The monument looks different today from the picture. It actually starts at the level of the surrounding road, but reckless drivers occasionally drove over, instead of around, the square, endangering the statue. City officials decided to raise the level of the ground around the statue about two feet. The first step of the monument is actually underground, and although newspaper reports from the time refer to a cornerstone with a time capsule, none is visible today.

Years after the monument was erected, in March 1909, four original bronze Federal Model 1841 6-pounder field guns, cast for the Union Army in Massachusetts between 1847 and 1861, were added encircling the base. Later in 2015 the cannons were placed in National Park-quality reproduction No. 1 field carriages on wheels to better represent what the cannons looked like in the 1860s.

Since 2018, two additional markers and the “March to Freedom” statue were added to share the “Fuller Story” of Franklin and share the African American history that happened on Franklin’s public square. The markers on the public square share the story of the market house that sold slaves and explains the Battle of Franklin, and the statue honors the memory of the U.S. Colored Troops who fought for freedom in the Civil War. (The public square markers coincide with markers at the historic courthouse talking about reconstruction, U.S. Colored Troops, and the Franklin riot of 1867.)

Civil War Monument Dedication, 1899

Maury Darby Building (Twine Graphics & Screen Printing) 304 Public Square

The oldest building on the square is the red brick building with the pitched roof. Its architecture is a federal style of which few examples remain in Franklin. By the time Franklin was founded, the federal-style was on the wane, replaced by gothic revival and classic revival.

F&M Bank Corner, 1925

The earliest photo of downtown Franklin was taken here in 1883. This building has been home to Joe Trice Hardware, Standard Hardware & Farm store, Snodgrass Gallery and two banks.

Main Street - 300 Block

Most of the buildings on this block are Victorian and date from the late 1800s and early 1900s, with a sprinkling of Art Deco from the 1920s-30s. Many have their original hardwood floors and pressed tin ceilings. Around 1900, the street was bustling with shops carrying dry goods, jewelry, shoes, clothes, medicine, barbers, a photographer, farm supplies, household stores, banks, restaurants, and bars.

Gray’s on Main, 1876 332 Main Street

Constructed in 1876, this building was originally the T.K. Fleming Company, a furniture store, before being purchased in 1930 by Franklin Gray, Jr., and D.C. Kinnard who turned it into Kinnard Gray Drug Company. It became Gray Drug Co., in the 1940s and the iconic sign was installed in 1952. In 1998 the pharmacy was sold, and Gray’s Cards and Gifts opened. The neon sign was changed from Gray’s Drug Co., to simply Gray’s. After closing in 2003, the building sat vacant for 10 years before becoming the restaurant Gray’s on Main. Today this restaurant and music hall with original floors, tin ceilings, and Gray’s memorabilia maintains the building’s original character.

The Gray’s on Main restaurant Franklin locals and guests enjoy today pays homage to the building’s 150-year history in more ways than one. In addition to the preservation of the former pharmacy’s ceilings and floors, wallpaper made of prescription labels discovered during the renovation can be seen inside the restaurant, and the bar’s spirits reflect the pre-prohibition drink culture.

The White Building (The Heirloom Shop)

404 Main Street

Constructed in 1899, the building’s wrought iron eave and belt course are its most significant decorative detailing and have a distinctively Irish flavor to it. In 1831, Michael Doyle bought the southern part of the original town plat on which the White Bldg now stands. Doyle was one of the first Irishmen to settle in Franklin. He and Hugh Dempsey were in the grocery business and both were from Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.

Dr. John B. White ran a drugstore and had a medical office in this building until 1928. In the early 1930s, the Regen, Bethurum, and Padgett Funeral Home occupied the building, as did the Williamson Leader before the Heirloom Shop moved here in 1989.

A.N.C. Williams’ Store, c. 1870 (Avec Moi)

418 W Main Street

Allen Nelson Crutcher Williams opened the first African American owned business in downtown Franklin in 1863, while still enslaved, operating a shoe repair business on the square to fix the boots of occupying Union soldiers. After attaining his freedom in 1865, he purchased a lot on Second Avenue in 1867 and then another lot here where he constructed a building and opened a general merchandise store. Williams operated his store for sixty-four years, openly catering to both black and white patrons despite Jim Crow laws and segregation. The store held the distinction as the longest continually operating business on Main Street. About 1870, Williams founded Franklin’s first church for former slaves by a former slave and became its preacher.

A.N.C. Williams & Sons, 1919

Gentry Building (Yarrow Acres)

424 Main Street

Civil War Surgeon Dr. W.M. Gentry had the Gentry Building constructed in 1905 by Franklin contractor Green Williams. In 1937 Miss Susie sold the building to Mr. L.A. McCall who had his grocery store at that location for many years. His son, Mr. Tom McCall, owned McCall Electric and used part of the building to store televisions at one time.

White Building, 1923 (Starbucks) 438 Main Street

If you ask people why this building is called the White Building, they’ll probably tell you because it’s white. That’s not the reason. Dr. John White who used it as his office built the building. It was his third building on Main Street. Today the building houses businesses and offices, which run on electricity produced by 64 solar panels on the roof. Also on the roof is a large sign that used to stand on the roof of the original Noel Hotel in Nashville. During the Christmas season, the sign is raised and visible down Main Street.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1834

510 W Main Street

Reverend James Otey founded the “mother church” of the Tennessee Episcopal Church in 1827. Originally the building had a second floor—slave galleries over the ground floor seating. During the Union army occupation of Franklin from 1862-65, the church did not have a resident rector or regular services, so the Union army used this building as a barracks, then as a field hospital, and finally as a stable. In 1869, reconstruction began on the church. At that time the roof was lowered and the slave galleries removed. Church members donated eight stained glass windows from the glassmaking studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany to the church from 1902-15. They are the three over the altar, the trio on the right and two on the left, as you face the altar. The remaining windows are not Tiffany because when the great artisan died in 1938, he took his glassmaking secrets to the grave. Today the St. Paul’s Church has the distinction as the oldest church building in Franklin.

Franklin Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1876

615 Main Street

The Franklin Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized about 1871; this building dates to 1876. Hugh Cathcart Thompson of Franklin, who would later achieve fame as the architect of Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the “Mother Church of Country Music,” designed the structure in the style of gothic revival.

The handmade pews with wooden pegs are original to the church; the stained glass is of more recent origin. It and major renovations to the church were carried out in 1995.

Williamson County Archives and Museum

611 W Main Street

Visitors will discover artifacts from the days of old that tell the story of Williamson County. The recreated Main Street display and the military room are filled with interesting objects from the Civil War through World War II. Vintage clothing, quilts, photos, military uniforms tools and more are on display. The archives section includes record holdings of marriage licenses and bonds, wills and probates, tax records, deeds and much more. Tours are free to the public.

Williamson County Veterans’ Park and Cannon

611 W Main Street

(located on the grounds of Williamson County Archives)

The Veterans’ Park honors Williamson County servicemen who served in American wars from the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War. Bricks are inscribed with each soldier’s name and conflict. The largest brick is in honor of George Jordan, the only Williamson Countian to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Born a slave, Jordan joined the U.S. Army after the Civil War, and became a Buffalo Soldier, fighting in the Indian Wars in New Mexico. In command of 19 men, Sgt. Jordan held his ground in an exposed position and forced back a larger number of the enemy, preventing them from surrounding the command. This park is home to a restored cannon that was dedicated on November 12, 2007. This rare cannon is a 3.2 inch Field Gun Model. The muzzle was manufactured in 1892 at the Watervliet Arsenal in Albany, New York and weighs 832 pounds. The carriage was built in 1887 at the National Armory in Springfield, MA.

Historic Franklin Post Office, 1924

510 Columbia Avenue

The United States Post Office at Five Points was built in 1924. In 1991, it was recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the eleven most endangered sites in America because the USPO announced plans to close it. The building is now owned by the City of Franklin and today postal service continues.

Historic Franklin Presbyterian Church, 1908 435 W Main Street

Gideon Blackburn organized the First Presbyterian Church in Franklin in 1811 and built the first church on a lot north of the City Cemetery on Fourth Avenue. By 1842, the church purchased this lot and built the first of three sanctuaries at this location. The first, brick with slave galleries, was badly damaged after the Union Army used it as a field hospital after the Battle of Franklin. By 1887 a new church was built and later burned to the ground in 1905 before being rebuilt to look just like its predecessor. First Presbyterian Church moved to Franklin Road two miles north of Franklin in 1995 and the Historic Presbyterian Church now is at this location.

Livery Stable (Bink’s Outfitters) 421 Main Street

Originally a livery stable, the large open arched entrance allowed horses and buggies to enter and leave the building. Later, the livery stable closed, driven out of business by the transportation innovation first called the “horseless carriage.” The natural transition for this building was Hardcastle Motors, a car dealership and gas station, with the pumps right out on the street. As time passed, the building’s size no longer sufficed for a car dealership, and it transitioned into Elmore’s Furniture store, and now Bink’s Outfitters.

Franklin Theatre, 1937 419 Main Street

The Franklin Theatre opened in 1937 as the first air-conditioned building in town with a seating capacity of 600 downstairs and 130 in the balcony, which during the era of Jim Crow, was for black patrons. The opening feature was “Night Must Fall,” starring Montgomery Clift and Rosalind Russell. Admission was a dime for children and a quarter for adults. It showed movies for 70 years on Main Street and in the early days even served

1924

as a Vaudeville-style theatre. The theatre has reopened as a multi-purpose venue for music, movies and community events; the marquee is a reproduction of the original 1937 marquee. The Franklin Theatre continues the tradition of showing movies, but also added a new dimension to Main Street - live music concerts and live stage theater performances.

Back in the early days of the Franklin Theatre, movie tickets could be purchased for just a nickel and dime. An in-house confectionery also offered movie-goers sweet treats for pocket change, a concept difficult to imagine in the world we live in today. One thing hasn’t changed over time; the Franklin Theatre still maintains its title of “the home of first kisses.”

4th and Main

As you walk along Main Street, stop and take a look at the roofline. Metal stars are visible from here on three buildings on the corner. These “star nuts” anchor metal rods that run through the buildings to keep them from sagging and protect against earthquakes.

Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant

120 4th Avenue S

The building that is now home to Puckett’s was built in the early 1900’s. In 1913, it was a blacksmith shop and in the 1920’s, it was the first Chrysler dealership in the county and a general automotive repair shop, Franklin Garage. Imagine the old garage by looking at the large front windows of the restaurant where the garage used to be. Before Puckett’s opened, the building housed a bicycle shop. Today, Puckett’s is Williamson County’s most decorated restaurant, receiving numerous awards for excellent food, service and live music.

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Franklin Theatre, 1949

Dan German Hospital (Ridgeview Community Church)

137

4th Avenue S

Dr. Dan German purchased a frame house at this location in 1937 to establish a clinic, veneering the exterior with fieldstone. The Review-Appeal newspaper best described the hospital’s opening in 1938: “This clinic fills a long needed hospitalization facility for Williamson County. The building is modern in every respect and contains 12 rooms, consisting of offices for the three doctors, waiting rooms for both white and colored, operating, x-ray and treatment rooms, four rooms for patients and a ward room, baths, modern kitchen, and the second floor is given over to the nurses.” A wing was added later to accommodate more patients. The hospital closed in 1958 when Williamson County Hospital opened, and the building became Graystone Nursing Home. In 2003 the Heritage Foundation persuaded the Williamson County Commission to save the landmark, when plans called for a parking lot on the site.

Former Site of Tennessee Female College

234 4th Avenue S

The Tennessee Female College was organized in 1857 as a place of higher learning for young women. At the time, college did not mean further education after high school; it was what we now know as high school, and girls from Franklin, Middle Tennessee and even some from out of state attended here. The rise of public schooling finally put the school out of business about the turn of the 19th century. After the first building burned in 1886, this three-story brick structure with tower served Franklin until it was demolished in 1916.

Abbey Leix Mansion at Franklin Grove Estate & Gardens (off the loop)

423 S Margin Street

The W.O.N. Perkins house burned during the Civil War. In 1867, Perkins rebuilt his house on the same foundation using material from the old County Court Clerk’s office, located in the north corner of the square. He soon sold the house to William E. Winstead and the home became known as Winstead Place. It was later the home of Mayor Asa Jewell, and the O’More School of Design. The S.A. McNutt house was next door and was replaced in the 1890’s by R.E. Haynes. The present late-Victorian brick was home to Franklin lawyer Cabel Berry and became known as the Berry House, until it became the library for O’More. It will soon become the Calvin LeHew Entrepreneur Center for Williamson Inc.

Eloise Pitts O’More founded the O’More College of Design 1970, which sat on this property. She was a Tennessee native who as a young woman studied art in Paris, and wanted to create

an art school modeled after the college she attended in Paris. Mrs. O’More moved to Franklin in the 1960s and founded the school in her home on West Main Street, moving to this location in 1979. She lived on campus and remained involved in the college’s operations until her death in 2002 at the age of 95. The administration building’s name was changed to Abbey Leix Mansion, after the name of an abbey founded in Ireland in 1183 by an O’More ancestor. O’More College of Design moved to Belmont University’s campus in 2018. The Heritage Foundation of Williamson County purchased the property in 2019, now known as Franklin Grove Estate & Gardens. The site will soon feature two historic mansions offered as public exhibit space, an entrepreneur center, an event space, and beautiful gardens. The Heritage Foundation will also relocate an endangered Rosenwald school to the property for restoration.

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Williamson County Bank (Mellow Mushroom) 317 W Main Street

Mellow Mushroom is located in the former Williamson County Bank building, founded in 1889. It remained a bank until 2005. Besides the churches, few buildings on Main Street still retain their original use.

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Old Williamson County Courthouse, 1858 Public Square

Court was first held in a tavern, then in a little log building in the middle of the square. By 1809, a more permanent building arose in the same location that served until 1858 when the courthouse on the southeast corner of the square was built. Classic in appearance with a triangular pediment and four cast-iron columns, the courthouse served until 2004, when the Williamson County Judicial Center opened for business.

After a conviction for a crime, the punishment was usually carried out immediately in the courtyard. Punishments were physical and included whippings, brandings, and confinement in the stocks. The death penalty was carried out by hanging from the courthouse balcony. One hanging there wasn’t a lawful execution.

In 1888, a group of local angry citizens took the law into their own hands and lynched a black man by hanging him from the balcony just as his trial began on charges of assaulting a white woman. Before the Civil War, slave auctions also took place in the courtyard.

On July 6, 1867, the courthouse square was the site of a riot when Franklin’s Colored Union League marched through Franklin’s square to protest speeches by two congressional candidates. Black merchant and preacher A.N.C. Williams attempted to avoid violence by communicating the League’s desire to march peaceably to the assembled white attendees. Events escalated

and shots were fired on both sides, but Williams proved instrumental in calming tensions on both sides and working for a peaceful solution to the conflict on the square.

In 2019 three markers were added outside the historic courthouse to share the “Fuller Story” or Franklin and the African American history that happened on its public square. The markers discuss Franklin’s history during reconstruction, U.S. Colored Troops involvement in the Civil War, and the riot of 1867. (The markers coincide with the two markers on the public square discussing the market house that sold slaves and explains the Battle of Franklin.)

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Water Trough Corner (Franklin City Hall)

On this corner, there was once a public watering trough and livery stable where the current city hall stands. When visitors rode into town, they tied up their horses and let them drink at the trough. A grocery store, blacksmith shop and the newspaper all conducted business here. The current building was built as a shopping mall in the 1970s before being repurposed for city offices in the 1980s.

End of Great American Main Street Loop

Arts & Antiques

This three-story brick structure was one of the first in Middle Tennessee and most of the men prominent in the early history of Franklin and Nashville were members or guests of the lodge. Andrew Jackson and James Robertson, the founder of Nashville, were in frequent attendance there for lodge business. The gothic revival building has hosted multiple events of national significance. In 1830, President Jackson met here with a delegation from the Chickasaw Indian tribe, and negotiated a treaty under the Indian Removal Act that eventually led to

Historic Franklin Masonic Hall, 1823

115 2nd Avenue S

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expulsion from their homeland and resettlement in Indian Territory after traveling on the infamous Trail of Tears. During the Civil War, the building was used for Confederate spying activity as well as for Union Army barracks after Franklin’s occupation. In 1978, workers renovating on the 2nd floor discovered a wall of graffiti (names, dates, regiments) was left behind by Union soldiers living here during the occupation.

Historic Masonic Hall, one of Franklin’s oldest public buildings, was the first 3-story building constructed west of the Allegheny Mountains. By code regulation, no building downtown is allowed to be taller than the Masonic Hall.

The Brownstones, 2006 (private residences)

1st and Church Streets

Although not a historic property, The Brownstones is an example of how new construction can fit into the National Register Historic District of downtown Franklin. It was an ambitious project that turned a 2.2-acre lot into 25 new custom-built townhouses, ranging from 4,400 to 9,000 square feet, each one comprising three floors and a basement. Each unit is unique from floor plans to material choice to exterior design, but collectively they are architecturally accurate to the 1840s-era town house.

Wiley Memorial Chapel Methodist Episcopal, 1868 (Pull-Tight Theatre)

122 2nd Avenue S

This building served as a church for freed slaves, built in 1868 by missionaries who came to town to help the freedmen build their own churches. Take a look at the cornerstone on the building: Wiley Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, 1925. Wiley was the denomination’s bishop, Methodist Episcopal the name of the denomination and 1925 refers to the date the entrance hall was added after tornado winds damaged the building. By 1945, the congregation dwindled away and the church ceased to exist. The building was sold, and progressed through a series of uses until 1985 when Pull-Tight Players Theater moved in.

Green House (private residence)

202 Church Street

The Green House is the oldest remaining African American house in downtown Franklin. William “Munch” and Docia House purchased the corner lot in 1906 and their home remained in the family for over ninety years. During this time it also served as a boarding house and hotel for traveling African American musicians and preachers, as well as Pullman porters.

‘Bucket of Blood’ Historic Marker

Between 1870 and 1960, the downtown area now bordered by the Harpeth River, the railroad, and historic Main and Church Streets, housed a vital working class African American neighborhood. After the Civil War, former slave Reverend William Perkins became the first freedman to purchase a home in the neighborhood. The Lillie Mills flour plant provided jobs for many African Americans and established the area as an industrial center. About 1900 a man was stabbed there, and it was said he bled so much it filled a bucket. In the early 1900s two rows of company houses for African American mill workers were built around the plant, nicknamed “Bucket of Blood.”

Clouston Hall, 1821 (Gallery 202) 202 2nd Avenue S

Joseph Reiff designed Clouston Hall, which was built by Edward G. Clouston in the 1830s. The house features exquisite Palladian windows and an elegant fanlight over the front doors. The building was one of the 44 field hospitals after the Battle of Franklin and bloodstains and a cannonball scar still mar the original floors in the building. In the 20th century the building was the home of artist Bunn Gray and today it houses Gallery 202, an art gallery carrying Gray’s legacy into the 21st century.

Once a gathering place for parties and political meetings, Clouston Hall is believed to have hosted all 3 U.S. Presidents with Tennessee roots: Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson.

McPhail-Cliffe House, c. 1832 (private residence) 231 2nd Avenue S

The McPhail-Cliffe House was originally located on the opposite side of Second Avenue next to Main Street. It was the home of the two doctors who practiced medicine in the building. In the early 1970s, the house was slated for demolition to build a parking lot. At the last minute it was moved here, and serves as the home of the couple that saved and restored it.

Eelbeck-Johnson House, 1820 (Holly Thompson Homes) 236 2nd Avenue S

Henry Eelbeck, a prosperous carriage maker, built this house. Eelbeck’s son John was stabbed to death one night in 1850 as he approached a man whom he suspected of some wrongdoing. Although the accused was a slave, by this time Tennessee law required enslaved persons to be appointed a lawyer, who from

the record ably represented him, and appealed the conviction to the state appellate court. Nevertheless, the man was convicted of first-degree murder, and executed.

Franklin Ice House (Franklin Antique Mall)

251 2nd Avenue S

The building once housed Franklin’s “Ice House.” Before refrigeration, ice was harvested from lakes in the north, shipped south and stored in warehouses under sawdust to be delivered by an iceman in his horse and wagon. Once refrigeration was widespread and the ice house became obsolete, the building transitioned into a chicken processing plant. It is now one of Tennessee’s largest antique malls.

Miller-Beasley House, 1866

305 3rd Avenue S

John W. Miller, chairman of the building committee for the construction of the 1858 courthouse on the Public Square, built this home. The house is of traditional Southern design, except that it stands only one story high. The house lacked a second floor because Mrs. Miller had lived in a house where the second floor was destroyed by a tornado and she refused ever to live in another one.

Pioneers’ Corner, c. 1870 (private residence)

327 3rd Avenue S

Formerly a railroad section foreman’s home that dates around 1870, the small-frame house sits atop a knoll at the railroad crossing and the Harpeth River Bridge. Across the railroad tracks near the riverbank, two duplexes provided housing for the four African American section hands employed to repair the tracks and maintain a safe roadbed.

Water truck in front of old Franklin ice plant, 1877

Trabue-Austin House, 1813 (private residence)

302 3rd Avenue S

The house originally had four rooms, two rooms over two. Midway through the 20th century, the family who lived there added a bathroom (and kept a pony in the garage). Now after major additions, it has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The house won a preservation award for sensitive renovation for incorporating a functional and compatible addition to the house without overwhelming the older portion.

Marshall House, 1805 (private residence)

224 3rd Avenue S

This is the home of John Marshall, a distinguished lawyer and book collector. When the Civil War came, both Confederate and Union officers came to the house, including a Hessian officer and his wife who uninvited lived in the house with the Marshalls for some time. John Marshall died in 1863, leaving a widow and several children, including Park, a nine-year-old boy at the time of the Battle of Franklin. Park, a lawyer like his father, lived in both Washington, D.C. and Nashville before moving back to Franklin and this house. Park was elected mayor of Franklin nine times, and died in 1947, after which the house was electrified—for the second time. Park installed electricity around 1900, but was so disturbed after he turned the lights on for the first time that he had all the wiring ripped out and continued to read by kerosene lamps until he died.

Stone Bungalow, 1926 (private residence)

221 3rd Avenue S

The Stone Bungalow is built on one of the original lots of the 15-block town of Franklin. It replaced an earlier structure that was home to Jennie Fleming Mizzell, daughter of Samuel and Cynthia Cannon Fleming. Cynthia was the aunt of Henry Cannon, husband of Sarah Cannon, also known as Minnie Pearl.

Fleming-Hyatt House, 1907 (private residence)

219 3rd Avenue S

This regal Victorian was built in 1907 by Sam Fleming, founder and owner of the Fleming Grain Company, and his wife, Cynthia Cannon Fleming. Known for many years as the Doyenne of Maple Street, as Third Avenue South was known until the mid-1930s, Cynthia came from a long line of distinguished Tennesseans. Her grandfather was John B. McEwen, mayor of Franklin during the Civil War, and she is also the great-granddaughter of Newton Cannon, governor of Tennessee, and great-great niece of Aaron V. Brown, another early 19th century Tennessee governor. Her nephew Henry Cannon was the husband of Sarah Colley Cannon, better known as Minnie Pearl.

Watson-Pointer House, 1881 (private residence)

214 3rd Avenue S

This magnificent Second French Empire style house, also known as General Grant style, featuring the lovely Mansard roof, was built in 1881 by Kitty Puryear Watson. Mrs. Watson hired Nashville architect Hugh Cathcart Thompson to design her dream home and spent $18,000 on its construction. Thompson is best known as the architect who designed Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

Blackburn House, 1874 (private residence)

211 3rd Avenue S

John W. Blackburn built this house in 1874. He personally chose every piece of lumber that went into the house and workmen declared the sills would hold up the State Capitol. Originally one story, the second floor was added to accommodate the growing Blackburn family.

Aside from the original front door and windows, the Blackburn House looks quite different today from the picture. J.W. and Tennessee Neely Blackburn had 10 known children, 9 of whom are believed to have survived to adulthood. To say the second story was a welcome addition to the house would be an understatement.

White-King House (private residence)

203 3rd Avenue S

James H. White built the White House in the 1870s. Other families who lived in the house were those of John M. Gault and Charles M. McDaniel. A beautiful stairway and large rooms with high ceilings characterize the house.

Blackburn House, 1890

Polk House, 1905 (private residence)

204 3rd Avenue S

W.H. Glass built this Colonial Revival-style in 1905 as a wedding present for his daughter Willie Mae Polk and her husband, Dr. William Polk. They lived here until Dr. Polk’s death in 1957. In 1992 the current owners began a three-year restoration project. Fortunately, many of the original features of the house were still in place beneath years of changes, including three sets of cherry pocket doors. Other woodwork, including all three original mantels, were restored and put back in place.

Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, 1849 (First Baptist Church)

136 3rd Avenue S

Baptists first organized in Franklin about 1830 but it wasn’t until 1849 that the congregation could afford to build their church. The church had two front doors, one for men and one for women and children, with a partition down the middle. During the Civil War, the building suffered damage as pews and church records were burned. The church rebuilt, then rebuilt again in 1890 after a fire. In 1913 the church received payment of $1,500 for the Civil War damage from the U.S. government. The congregation moved to larger quarters in 1988 and currently it is the home of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church.

Corn House (Biscuit Love)

132 3rd Avenue S

Rebuilt in 1892, after a devastating fire, this beautiful Queen Anne style house is known as the Corn House. Named for the Corn family who bought the house in 1920 and resided there for over 60 years, this prosperous family owned Lillie Mills, makers of Franklin Lily flour. The Franklin factory burned in 1958. Today, the house is home to Biscuit Love.

Moran House (office building)

120 3rd Avenue S

Charles Moran, an accomplished cabinetmaker, built the Moran House in the 1820s. In his shop, which was on the premises, he made furniture for the finest houses in the area. Dr. Thomas A. Pope bought the house in 1896 and practiced dentistry in the office next door until his death in 1947. Miss Mary Pope taught piano here for over 60 years. The Moran House has received a preservation award for the sensitivity with which it was converted to a private residence.

Gaut House (Shuff’s Music)

118 3rd Avenue N

This home was built in 1829 by Thomas Maney. During the Civil War, this was the home of Sallie Ewing Carter, called by a Union soldier “one of the famous beauties in Middle Tennessee.” Sallie, widowed twice with five children, was a staunch Confederate, flying the first Confederate flag in town from her balcony. When Union occupation came in 1862, she put away the flag and took up spying, using her charming personality and cleverness to ferret out information from unwitting Union officers.

The Knight House (City Farmhouse)

117 3rd Avenue N

The Knight House is named for Josiah Knight who bought the lot for this house in 1812. Arched French windows, arched side panels and a fanlight over the front door distinguished the handsome residence. Early deeds describe this lot as being beside the lot on which the jail formerly stood.

The Handy Residence (private offices)

125 3rd Avenue N

This elegant Federal two-story brick residence is one of Franklin’s most distinguished architectural landmarks. Now a law office, it was once the home of T.K. Handy, who lived there for a great many years, as did some of his descendants.

Perkins-Howarth House (private offices)

137 3rd Avenue N

This Tennessee vernacular style with a Greek Revival porch was built in the 1820s. During the Battle of Franklin, its basement

sheltered many Franklin residents. At one time, classes of Tennessee Female College were held here until that college burned in 1886. The house also served as a nursing home for many years.

The Tennessee Female College students who attended classes at the Perkins-Howarth House were younger than you might think; “college” at the time was the term for what we now know as high school. Some of the young students etched their signatures into the lower-level, right-hand side windows of the house from inside the old classroom, penmanship which is still visible today in the original glass. The most common given female name at the time, Mary, appears in many of the signatures.

Vaughan House (private residance) 203 3rd Avenue N

In 1896, Judge Josiah Carr Eggleston and his wife Julia Plummer Eggleston bought this house, built in the late 1880s. In the 1930s, the house and the Egglestons themselves provided the inspiration for a series of children’s stories called “Those Plummer Children,” written by Christine Noble Govan.

Walker-Ridley House (private residence) 328 Bridge Street

Andrew Johnston, a prosperous early Franklin businessman, built this house as one of three Johnston houses in a row on Bridge Street. Nashville business tycoon Rogers Caldwell moved to the house in 1957. Caldwell, once called the “J.P. Morgan of the South,” built an empire during the 1910s-20s, financing his lavish lifestyle from his company’s assets. When the company collapsed in 1930, the repercussions were felt throughout Tennessee. After the fall, Caldwell retired from business, living at his palatial estate until 1957, when legal action by Tennessee finally resulted in the seizure of that property. He spent the last years of his life at this house, and where he died in 1968.

Old City Cemetery 4th Avenue N

In Old City Cemetery repose the remains of the town’s earliest settlers. Among the early settlers buried here are Ewen Cameron, who built Franklin’s first house, Dr. Daniel McPhail, who died in the Mexican War, and Fountain Branch Carter, whose house is now a Civil War museum. The rear portion of the cemetery was set aside for blacks both slave and free. The largest stone memorializes Anarchy Cowles, whose husband Jesse first

purchased his own freedom from slavery, along with his wife’s and children’s, raising the money from a business he operated as a slave. The Old Glory Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected the stone gates in 1916 “in honor of the pioneer men and women buried here.”

Rest Haven Cemetery & the Unknown Soldier 4th Avenue N

This cemetery contains the bodies of many who lived through the fiery trial of civil war and occupation, including the grave of the unknown soldier. On October 10, 2009, an unknown soldier’s remains (which were discovered during a construction project on Columbia Avenue) were reinterred in Rest Haven cemetery after a 19th century funeral at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and procession by horse-drawn caisson through Franklin’s downtown, where 7,000 people stood along the route to pay their respects. The columns and architectural relics comprising the monument originally surrounded Tennessee’s state capitol.

By the time the unknown soldier’s remains were discovered, time had erased everything known about his life, right down to which side of the Civil War he was fighting on. Since it is unknown where the soldier originally hailed from, soil from all 18 states involved in the Battle of Franklin was poured over the soldier’s final resting place, a unifying sign of respect.

The Kinnard House (private residence) 217 4th Avenue N (house faces Bridge St.)

This charming house is one of Franklin’s earliest dwellings, dating back to 1810 or before. It was built by Gideon Blackburn, founder of the First Presbyterian Church in Franklin and an important figure in Presbyterian history of the area. The clapboards cover hand-hewn logs, a testament to the early age of the house.

Walker-Fisher House (private residence) 402 4th Avenue N

This is another of the three houses built by Andrew Johnston. The present owners are the fifth generation of the Fisher family to own the house. The third Johnston house, which was a block away at the corner of Hillsboro Road, was torn down in 1969 to make way for a gas station. It was the destruction of that house that led to the formation of the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, dedicated to saving Williamson County’s historic assets.

Bridge House (private residence)

325 4th Avenue N

The original ownership of this house is not known for certain, but Richard Andrews bought the property in 1834 from Benjamin Tappan. Lydia Heath who lived here until her death in 1919, bought it in 1858. Never a large house, it has always been noted for its beautiful woodwork and graceful design. The building once housed the offices of country artist Wynonna Judd.

Bennett House

134 4th Avenue N

This house was built in the 1870s by Walter James Bennett. The Bennett name was well known in business circles on Main Street for over 100 years, and many county residents remember Bennett’s Hardware Store at the corner of 4th and Main. The house remained in the Bennett family until 1967 when its ownership passed on to someone outside of the family for the first time in ninety-two years. For many years in the latter part of the 20th century, the Bennett House was a well-known recording studio where Kris Kristofferson, Dan Fogelberg, Jimmy Buffett, Vanessa Williams, Amy Grant and Waylon Jennings are counted among the many artists who recorded there.

Fourth Avenue Church of Christ

117 4th Avenue N

The Fourth Avenue Church of Christ, located here, grew out of a meeting conducted in Franklin in 1833. For several years, the congregation met in members’ homes as well as the Masonic Lodge, finally constructing their first building in 1851 at this location. The church was restored in 1855, following damage from the Civil War. By 1914, more space was needed, and a new structure was built that included the stained glass windows still seen today. Just 13 years later, a tornado severely damaged that building—but spared the stained glass windows—and the rebuilding resulted in the present church building you see today.

Visitor Center

400 Main Street, Suite 130

The Franklin Visitor Center is open seven days a week to provide visitors with area information, brochures, maps, local merchandise, and more.

End of Haunts & Headstones Loop

Historic Homes of Hincheyville

Hincheyville was named for Hinchey Petway, an early owner of the property. The neighborhood is primarily comprised of single-family houses erected 1828-1935. Federal, Greek Revival, Victorian, Italianate, Queen Anne, Eastlake, Four Square, Bungalow, Tudor Revival and Suburban Residential styles are all represented here. This district has a strong sense of neighborhood; the sidewalks are lined with large trees and many with iron fences or low stone walls. Look for mounting stones and hitching posts along the sidewalk. The Hincheyville Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Williams-Peppers House 700 W Main Street

Peter Williams built this house in 1819 for this personal residence. The subdivision of Hincheyville was established in 1819 and the Williams home was the first brick house to be built. The front portion of the house burned prior to the Civil War and the remaining rooms were rebuilt into the current home’s footprint.

Horton-Carter-McGrew House 701 W Main St

Mr. Henry Horton built the original house in 1891-1892. This large ten-room dwelling was built around a much older structure, a low ceiling room with ash flooring, wavy hand-poured window panes, and “pin and board” construction (without iron nails). These features indicate this room was built no later than 18121815, which makes it older than Hincheyville. Dr. Rosalie Carter, Tennessee’s first female dentist, lived here.

Dr. Rosalie Carter was the great-niece of Theodrick “Tod” Carter, Franklin’s well-known Civil War soldier who lost his life in his family home, the Carter House, during the Battle of Franklin. Dr. Carter was the first woman to graduate from Vanderbilt with a degree in dentistry and ran her practice from her home on 701 W Main Street for 74 years.

Long-Babbit-Ligon House

805 W Main St

One of the earliest references to this property is the deed of sale, which records the transfer of Lot No. 7 in Hincheyville in 1832 from Thomas Dudley to Judith Long. In 1851, the property was sold to a Mr. Weems for $1,552. Today the house holds a unique place in Hincheyville because of its unusual “Y”-shaped design. Situated along the banks of Town Creek, a tiny stream several feet away and flowing under Main Street, the home gives the impression that it has rested on its overlook for a long time.

La Maison Du Reve

808 W Main Street

La Maison Du Reve lives up to its French name – “House of Dreams.”

Campbell Westbrook House

819 W Main Street

Brown and Jennie Campbell built this Queen Anne style house in the 1880s around an existing dwelling that dates back to 1828. By the 1950s the house deteriorated after it had been divided into three apartments. In 1967, Eloise Pitts O’More purchased the house to open a design school, and extensively renovated it. O’More College of Design eventually moved to larger quarters on East Margin Street, then to the Belmont University campus in Nashville.

Carter Family in front of Horton-Carter-McGrew House, c. 1911

Hearn-McNeely House

901 W Main Street

This Victorian cottage spent its first 92 years in Franklin on another downtown street - Fifth Avenue North - in the area behind the Starbucks on Main Street. It was going to be torn down to make way for a bank, but the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County acquired it in 1981 and had it moved to this location on West Main Street. This home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Liberty Hall McLemore House

902 W Main Street

In the early 1900s, R.W. and Katie McLemore built this substantial solid-brick structure in the popular “four-square” style of the time. The amenities of a porte-cochere, indoor plumbing and central heating made the McLemore family the envy of their Hincheyville neighbors. Many original fixtures and features of the beautiful home have been preserved.

Bennett-Gathmann House

903 W Main Street

This serene-looking Greek Revival house stood as a witness to the horrors of war through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy named Hardin Figuers, who years later wrote accounts of the Battle of Franklin and aftermath. On the day of the battle, and against his mother’s entreaties, Hardin climbed up a large tree in the front yard to watch the fighting below. He retreated to the cellar when flying bullets endangered his own safety. While in the cellar, a 12-lb. cannonball struck a windowsill within a few feet of the family. The house served as a hospital, and Hardin wrote about scavenging throughout the countryside for food for both him and the soldiers, as nobody had enough. Seeing “a little Yankee boy pale in death,” near his own age, Hardin said, impressed him more than the thousands of dead men he looked upon. The tree Hardin climbed the day of the battle lived into the early 21st century.

Mapledene 908 W Main Street

Dr. Samuel Henderson Sr. built this home and gave it to his daughter, Sally Martin Henderson in 1881. In 1924, owner Margret Watkins added on the right side of the house. At one time, the house was divided into four apartments. In 1971, it was lovingly restored to its original elegance and grandeur.

Lilli House 930 W Main Street

Joshua Bates Lillie, an owner of Franklin’s Lillie Mills, built this house in 1894. An original feed sack hangs in the kitchen today, and the floor-level windows in the living room have their original shutters.. The Waterford crystal chandelier in the main dining room originally hung in the British consulate in Bombay. The current owner decorates for every holiday, and if you’re visiting at Halloween, this is a not-to-be-missed sight.

The Green House 932 W Main Street

E.E. Green was a local banker who built his magnificent Victorian home in 1896. Mr. Green had two little girls and when he installed his cistern-pump on the back porch, the two girls put their footprints in the freshly poured concrete. The name “Green” is engraved in the original brass front door knob.

Turley-Faw-Folds House 1003 W Main Street

Mr. Turley was the owner of the Franklin Sugar and Syrup Mills. He built the house in 1881 in the Queen Ann style. It was originally built as a wooden frame, two-story house with a front entrance tower with arched front door and arched wrapped porch. In 1925 a fire destroyed part of the roof, but the arched front door and arched porch architecture was retained.

Theodore J. Turley lost his home after his venture into the sugar business failed. Judge W.W. Faw bought the house in 1900 and added brick to the home’s façade sometime after this photo was taken in 1909.

Turley-Faw-Folds House, 1909

Campbell-Harms

House

1010 W Main Street

The ‘School Master’s House.’ After Patrick Campbell and his brother Andrew immigrated to Franklin from Scotland, they established and taught at the Campbell School. Patrick and his wife, Louise Winder, sister of Mrs. John McGavock of Carnton and granddaughter of Feliz Grundy, lived in the house while teaching at the Campbell School.

Warren House 1011 W Main Street

J.A. Hunter built the house in the early 1920s in the Arts & Crafts style that was popular at the time, but the house is locally known as the Warren House after Marion and Ed Warren purchased the house in 1952. Mr. Warren was an owner of the funeral home next door, and Mrs. Warren was a first grade teacher fondly remembered by many Franklinites.

The Campbell School

Franklin Male Academy 1014 W Main Street

Andrew and Patrick Campbell opened the Campbell School in January 1868. The brothers were asked to serve as principals at Harpeth Academy where the boys had “gotten out of hand.” When students wanted a holiday from class, they would rough up their teachers. After the arrival of the Campbell brothers, things forever changed. The boys tried their bad behavior, and in turn received bloodied noses and blackened eyes, and order was restored. The Campbell School later became known as the Franklin Male Academy with other teachers and also served as classrooms for Franklin Elementary while the school was being built in 1907.

The House Place 1051 W Main Street

Built in 1873, this was the home of William and Ophelia House (grandparents of Minnie Pearl). Constructed in the Queen Ann style, the house has six fireplaces with original mantels. Many of the original furnishings and fixtures remain.

White Hall 1101 W Main Street

Although not included in the original Hincheyville land plan, White Hall sits on the southern edge of the subdivision. Robert White built the home in 1835 on 30 acres of land.

Carothers House 1101 W Main Street

Captain Thomas Jefferson Carothers built this house in 1866 after serving in the Civil War. It was originally constructed on Curd property near Williamson Medical Center and I-65, but was moved to its present location in 1990.

Burch-Crutchfield House 1012 Fair Street

Judge Burch, a federal tax collector, built this Colonial Revival style farmhouse in 1857. Mr. James Crutchfield, the present owner, is the author of numerous historical books including ‘A Heritage Grandeur’ showcasing Williamson County homes.

1008 Fair Street - 1006 W Main Street

The name ‘Fair Street’ came about by an unusual event. On Sept. 4, 1857, the Williamson County Agricultural and Mechanical Society was organized. The first county fair opened on Nov. 4, 1857 on land north of the Old City Cemetery. Mary McGavock Southall, sister to Colonel John McGavock, owned undeveloped property in Hincheyville on what was then called Wall Street (present day Fair Street). The county fairs of 1859 and 1869 were moved to this location thus the name Fair Street. Because of the Civil War of 1861-1865, plans for the county fair were put on hold resulting in the lapse in the five-year lease on Mrs. Southall’s property. As a result, the land was divided and two houses were built: The Courtney-Alexander house and the Courtney-Sheridan house.

Scobey DiLorenzo House, also

The Cottage

936 Fair Street

This charming Victorian house, built about 1893, became a Painted Lady in the 1980s. Seen most often in California and Colorado, Painted Ladies can be easily identified by five or more contrasting colors bringing out the “Gingerbread” details on porches, shutters and molding around windows, eaves and roof. The picket fence continues the theme.

Todd-Bibb House 918 Fair Street

This Colonial Revival style, ‘L’ shape designed house was built in 1884 by Mrs. Mattie Todd on 11 acres and part of the fair property. The house has 12-foot ceilings. The front porch was a later addition.

Smith-Hardcastle House 904 Fair Street

Built in 1893, this was known for many years as the John R. Page home, for the local businessman. Page bought the home in 1928 and lived there with his wife, Leila, and their children for many years. The handsome two-story frame structure has undergone extensive renovation.

Walker-Whitson House, 1929 803 Fair Street

Rosa Walker bought this home from Sara Gooch in 1931. Mrs. Walker helped found Walker Chevrolet and ran it successfully for many years after the death of her husband. She became one of Franklin’s most celebrated and successful women business owners. The Tudor-style home began as an over-under duplex by Farnsworth, a noted builder of the time. Extensive renovations were done in 2003-2004.

Young-Dannenfelser Cottage 801 Fair Street

This stone cottage is believed to have been constructed around 1928 as Hincheyville was getting its last “new homes.” During the Great Depression, the house, indicative of what was happening around the nation, lost a third of its value.

White-Deal House 800 Fair Street

This charming cottage is folk Victorian style built by Wiley B. White around 1909-1911. The house was in poor condition when restoration work began in the mid-1980s. No original plaster remains, but the exterior siding, floors, windows, doors, fireplaces and some hardware are believed to be original.

Irion-Waggener 724 Fair Street

George Irion is believed to have built this Federal style home in 1830. Apparently Mr. Irion was not skilled with managing his finances, and his properties were bought and sold numerous times. Charles F. Wall bought the house in 1852 and lived there for two generations until 1909. Mrs. Maggie White bought the house in 1909. The house became the home of the current owner’s parents. The house accommodates four apartments.

House of Stone

704 Fair Street

Mrs. J.M. King had this stone veneer multi-family house built in the 1930s. The John Jewell family was the first to occupy it.

Harris-McEwen House

612 Fair Street

A small one-story brick house stood on this 11-acre lot about 1832. Ten years later a prosperous young Franklin businessman and lawyer named John McEwen purchased it, leaving the existing structure and building, the imposing Italianate dwelling you see today, at the front of the lot. Italianate features seen here include wings, corniced eaves and Corinthian-columned porches. John McEwen was Franklin’s mayor during the Civil War and helplessly surrendered the town to the Union Army as the Occupation period began. The family huddled in the cellar during the Battle of Franklin, and opened the house to both Union and Confederate soldiers afterwards. Many Southerners lost it all during and after the War, but John McEwen was not one of them. He dealt extensively in real estate, operating a spa in Western Williamson County for many years. His longest-lasting contribution to the Franklin of today was turning down the Federal government in its efforts to save a prime part of Franklin’s battlefield and create a battlefield park. Instead McEwen subdivided the land into building lots and named the streets after the Battle of Franklin’s fallen Confederate generals.

McEwen-German House (offices)

123 5th Avenue

This building, another Italianate style building, was part of the original 11 acres purchased by John McEwen in 1842. John built the house as a wedding gift for his daughter Adelicia to Dr. Dan German, the father of the man who built The Stone Cottage and Dan German Hospital. For many years it served as Franklin’s public library.

Special thanks to Rick Warwick and Harriett Harms for their significant contribution to this guide and dedication to recording the history and heritage of historic downtown Franklin and Williamson County.

End of Historic Homes of Hincheyville Loop

Historic photos courtesy of Rick Warwick and the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County.